Break Point
by The-J-Project
Summary: With opposing mantras of leisure and hard work, Satoshi Aya and Genichirou Sanada were complete opposites. But when pressed to find a partner to win an essential mixed doubles tournement with, could choosing a controversial street tennis player as his partner be his key to success? SanadaxOC
1. Chapter 1

**Here is the prologue! Please leave me a review with your thoughts!**

"Um, this seat is saved," said Yuko, putting her hand out so that Mayu and I couldn't sit down at their table.

"Saved? All six seats are saved?" demanded Mayu.

"Yes, for _friends,_" said Yuko, who then turned back around to her friends and laughed. It was so childish, it was insane.

"Fine," said Mayu, whisking up her lunch and walking over to another table. I followed in behind and plopped myself down beside her.

"Why do we have to do that every day?" I asked, embarrassed.

"Why not? They don't own the damn lunchroom," she said, slamming down her bento box.

"But it's obvious that they aren't interested in being friends with us," I told her.

"We're just as good as they are," she huffed. "Just because they're on a sports team doesn't make them special."

I watched Mayu as she took a sip of her chilled juice. Clearly, she had a thorn in her side about the whole funding cuts for the arts department issue. I mean, I wasn't too thrilled about the whole thing either, but she seemed more undone by the predicament than I did. Ever since the girls' athletic teams brought home eight national titles, Mayu had been a lot more on edge. Rikkaidai was a school famed for its athletes and, unfortunately, us art students were clearly outnumbered. We didn't belong. We were on the outside looking in, something that Mayu despised to her very core.

"So we don't have any flashy plastic trophies," she said angrily, shoveling some rice into her mouth. "That doesn't give them the right to treat us like shit."

I sighed heavily and bit into an apple slice. The skin had been slightly peeled and then cut to resemble rabbit ears. I know, my mom shouldn't still be making my lunch.

It was my final year at Rikkaidai and I finally felt like I was getting into some semblance of a groove, unlike my lunch mate. I was on top of all my school work, managed my time effectively, and knew my place in the world, even if it was close to the bottom of the social hierarchy. So far my high school life hadn't been so bad. Besides, the apple I was eating tasted really good.

"The infuriate me!" Mayu admitted aloud, earning her several dirty looks from the other tables. I quickly nudged her, hoping she'd clue in and close her mouth. Unfortunately, all I got was some sticky rice flicked in my face.

Laughing, I peeled it off my cheek. "Real mature."

"I know," Mayu smiled. "At least I didn't throw my pickled beet at you. That would have left a stain if it landed on your uniform."

"Thanks, Mayu. You are oh so considerate," I replied mockingly.

**xXx**

"This is so awkward," Mayu said, her fingers intertwined in the tennis court fencing.

"Awkward is an understatement," I told her, scanning the tennis courts. Like us, many other female students were leaning up against the fence. The only difference was that we weren't exactly fangirls. The sports teams had enough of those and neither Mayu of I were willing to oblige to such cult like activities.

Quietly, we eagerly searched through the club. "Do you see him?" Mayu asked, standing on the tips of her toes to see further back.

"No. Jeez, could they all look anymore similar," I groaned. To me, the members looked all the same. Their standard club uniform made them resemble a large army of robots, crammed into the chain linked jail that was the tennis courts. Plus, the fact that they were all swinging their rackets in unison didn't help either. It was like a sea of white, dotted with a few specks of regular member yellow.

"Is that him?" Mayu asked. She pointed to a tall boy in the far corner.

"The one with the buzz cut?" I asked, squinting my eyes to get a better look.

"No, the one with the popped collar."

"Is he the one with the red shoelaces?" I asked.

"He is the one with the green shoelaces."

"Wait, which one? There are almost a dozen players with green shoelace," I pointed out.

"The one closest to the bucket of tennis balls," Mayu told me.

"That's not him," I said. "Your brother isn't _that _tall. How do you not know what your own sibling looks like? Don't you see him at home?"

Mayu sighed loudly and rested her head against the fence. "Of course I do. He is just good at blending in."

"Sure he is," I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. Mayu gave me a look, took a step backwards, and then pulled me off the fence as well.

"What should we do now?" Mayu asked. "I need to give him his puffer."

I shrugged. Mayu's brother suffered from asthma and usually carried his puffer at all times. His case wasn't severe and although he rarely used it, he was supposed to keep it just in case. Therefore, since he had accidentally left it in his desk, Mayu and I were graced with the task of fetching it for him.

**xXx**

"Mediocre work," he said with a frown. "You must try harder. We have scheduled a practice match next week and the effort that I just saw won't produce any wins. I have the roster now. Aizawa will play singles 1. Matsumoto, you're downgraded to second. You have to try harder, run harder, work out more," he said.

As I stood there, I couldn't believe he was berating him in front of everyone. I sneaked a peek at Matsumoto-san's face, which was frozen in horror. I almost felt bad for the poor guy.

"Shida, you will be three," the regular member said, pointing to the boy that I recognized as Mayu's brother. "And the doubles placements will remain the same."

With that, he dismissed them and marched off the court. The group got up and started to disperse.

"Hey."

I knew the voice but didn't turn around because I assume he wasn't talking to us.

"Oi! You in there?" I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"Huh?" I said, twisting around and coming face-to-face with Mayu's brother Taku.

"Got my puffer?" he asked with a smile. Mayu nodded and fished it out of her pocket. She tossed it to him and he caught it easily.

"Don't forget it again," she said, scolding him for his forgetfulness.

"I won't. It was bloody hell out there today! I've never run so many laps around the court." He smiled, flushed from the sprints.

"It looked brutal."

"I'm exhausted!" said the sweaty Taku. He reached into his tennis bag and pulled out a fresh towel to wrap around his neck. "I could drink an entire river."

**So there is it! I know that it is super short and a little slow. I just wanted to give you guys a little feel of what is going on in the school and let you get acquainted with a couple of the characters. The next chapters will be longer and will actually dive into the plot. Please review and let me know what you thought. Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here is chapter one. Enjoy and review!**

"Aya!"

My mother's shrill voice cut into my dreams and I reluctantly opened my eyes. It was late, I could tell. The early-morning light had lost its watercolor quality and streamed boldly through my window. I'd stayed up late last night, thinking. Japan's annual student photography contest had just been announced and I was trying to come up with an idea for my submission. Unfortunately, I lost track of time.

"Hold on!" I shouted. "Almost ready!" I lied as I threw myself out of bed. My school skirt lay in a heap at the corner of my bed, where I'd lazily stepped out of it the night before. I quickly threw on my uniform, pulled on a fresh pair of shocks, and threw my school tie over my shoulder.

I stumbled around the corner into my bathroom, glancing at my digital clock on the way. There was no time to take a shower. I quickly brushed my teeth, washed my face, then wet my fingers and ran them through my hair. Yanking my brush out of the drawer, I dragged it through my hair and tamed the thing that was my bedhead. I quickly pulled it up into a neat ponytail and added a few pins to hold it in place.

"Aya!" My mother's voice carried a warning.

I bound down the stairs and into the kitchen. My mom had obviously been distracted as she had poured me a cup of milk. I'm lactose intolerant. I swung open the refrigerator door and pulled out an apple. I quickly ran it under the tap and then took a bite. She didn't take notice to my milk refusal and headed upstairs to wake up my sister.

Skimming the table for my bento, I noticed how cluttered it was. Although my mom was home the majority of the day and my dad worked, she still had difficulty managing our household economy: things like extracurricular schedules, cleaning, and returning the library books that my younger sister borrowed back on time.

I looked at my watch and groaned loudly. "Mom, don't forget to bring in the laundry from outside; it is going to rain this afternoon," I called out to her.

"Bring in the laundry," she repeated solemnly from the top of the stairs, as if to ingrain it in her brain. Then she continued on with the battle that was waking up a five year old.

The doorbell rung. I looked up, surprised to see Mayu passing through my front door. I shouldn't have really been surprised; she was practically at my house 24/7 and walked in all the time. My parents didn't care and always knew it was her since nobody else had the audacity to do something like that.

"Ohayo," she called from the doorway.

"Ohayo," I replied, tossing my apple core into the garbage. I headed to meet her and jammed my feet into my shoes without untying the laces. I picked up my schoolbag and tossed in my bento box.

"Ready to go?" Mayu asked. I nodded and we exited through the door.

We dodged through a few alleys and threaded our way around the streets. We passed by our local convenience store and waved to as many neighbors as we possibly could. One of the old ladies who sold fruit on the corner gave us a smile. We'd lived in the neighborhood our entire live and practically everyone knew our business, even if it wasn't good. We smiled back and greeted her politely. Then we cut through a small park and ran through our school's front gates.

Thanks to our quick sprinting and our secret shortcuts, we made it to class on time.

I hadn't been in my seat for more than two minutes when Mayu tapped me on the head.

"Did you come up with an idea for the contest?" she asked quietly. "I was up all night last night and still couldn't come up with anything good."

I rummaged through my bag and handed my sketchbook to Mayu. I wouldn't really call it a sketchbook; I had no sketches in it whatsoever. It was more of a collection of lists and written brainstorms. Whenever an idea popped into my mind I wrote it down.

She flipped through the pages, squinting at the sloppy scribbles and raking her long hair behind her ears.

"So you haven't come up with anything either," she sighed, passing me back the book. I accidently missed it when she handed it to me and it fell to the floor, scattering the loose papers I had tucked inside.

"Sorry!" Mayu dropped to her knees and frantically began scraping the pages into a pile. She passed them up to me and I tucked them into my sketchbook once more.

xXx

"Could Satoshi Aya please report to the Student Council's office? Satoshi Aya, please report to the Student Council's office," a robotic voice said into the intercom.

I began heading down the hall as my name echoed through the hallways. I trotted down the stairwells and passed a few squealing girls. I didn't recognize them and assumed they were first years. It was only a matter of minutes before I arrived. Pulling the door aside, I entered the office.

The secretary greeted me promptly and called me over to her desk. It was situated in the corner and had heaps of papers piled on top of it. Obviously, she had a problem with organization as well. There were sticky notes stuck all over and her writing tools were all mixed up with things like pushpins and erasers.

"You wanted to see me?"

"Yes. Satoshi-san, am I correct to call you the treasurer of the Art Club?"

I nodded. "Is there something wrong?"

"There is," she told me frankly. "I regret to inform you that your club will be receiving a reduced budget this year."

I stood there, racking my brain for something to say. "Can I ask why?"

She sighed, already having replied to the same question multiple times. She'd already given the news to the Art Club, the Drama Club, and the Dance Club and they had all asked the same thing. "You see, the student council has decided to focus our funds in more productive areas of the school."

"More productive?" I asked, my voice dripping with a tad of confusion and anger. _What the hell did she mean by more producticve?_

"Yes. Although we value your clubs and our artistic students, we have failed to see any results from the Arts Department. Therefore, we concluded that we should invest in things that will produce results." She spoke to me without emotion, like this conversation was just another part of her day. "Until we see any awards or prizes, your club will receive half of its usual funding."

I felt sick. My stomach was doing backflips and my throat tightened until I could barely breathe. "Th…th…there isn't anything you can do?" I asked.

The third year student shook her head. "I am afraid not. Until your club begins to show promise, there is nothing we can do. You'll have to find funding for your projects on your own." She dismissed me to the side and told me to wait until somebody brought me our only check for this year. I complied and sat in the collective of chairs beneath the far window.

I was waiting patiently when the door slid open again. A tall stoic boy entered, striding over to the secretary. Had he not been one of the most talked about boys in the entire school, I wouldn't have known who he was. Actually, I didn't know him. I only knew his name and that he was some hot shot that played on the tennis team. I'd never seen his face before.

He sat down in the chair before the secretary, body rigid, face stony, like a husband who had just been interrupted midspat.

Upon his arrival, the secretary's expression instantly changed, morphing into a cheerful young lady. A smile crept up her lips and she batted her eyelashes idiotically. I felt like throwing up in my mouth. Was she really that desperate? Where had the stone cold bitch wandered off to?

The boy remained expressionless. He didn't even seem to notice her small attempts to get his attention. Actually, scratch that; she had his full attention. Unfortunately, she had his business attention, not his romantic attention.

"How are you, Sanada-san?" she asked softly.

His eyes were intense. "Fine thanks. Now, may I ask why you've called me down here?"

"Oh, it has to do with the tennis team," the secretary replied, smiling foolishly. She was blushing feverously and looked as if she was having a hot flash.

"If it involves the tennis team I could have heard it from Yagyu-san. He is on the student council as well," Sanada pointed out bluntly.

"I suppose the message could have been relayed to you through him," the secretary admitted. "Anyways, the President wanted me to inform you of an upcoming tournament that is going to be held at our school in a couple of months."

"And this is a tennis tournament?" Sanada questioned.

Secretary-san nodded. She seemed to have returned to her regular self after all her slight advances had been clearly turned down. "In response to your loss at this year's Nationals, our school's reputation has been brought down," she told him, her tone suddenly serious. "Rikkaidai has always been a school that takes pride in winning. Our sports teams have been claiming national titles since the school was first established. Sadly, the tennis team did not bring home a title this year. Thus, it has come to the student council's attention that your club has been having some difficulties lately."

"Difficulties, you say?" Sanada said, clearly annoyed with the girl. Still, he remained calm and collected as always.

"Yes. You lost both the Regional and National tournaments this year. It has also been predicted that your club will have a bad turnover next year."

"I think that Kirihara-kun will handle things appropriately," Sanada said.

"I'm sure he will. However, having only one experienced player on the roster is quite a risk," Secretary-san told him.

"I am aware of our club's situation," he replied sternly. "There are some talented first years that will bring home a title next year."

"I don't doubt that they will," said Secretary-san. "But just in case, a tournament has been organized to boost our reputation before something else goes wrong. It is sort of like insurance."

Sanada looked at her in silence. I really wanted to leave but I needed the check. After all, I don't think that they could have been any more awkward.

"The tournament will take place in exactly two months. And to ensure that our school is known as the top all-around tennis school, the tournament will be a mixed one. Both the boys' and girls' teams will compete as one. Unlike other schools, our girls' tennis team is extremely strong. So, just in case another school has a stronger boys' team, they will be weakened because of their girls' team."

I could almost see Sanada's face harden. It was already hard, but it hardened even more. He clenched his fists as Secretary-san subtly insulted him and managed to retain his anger. I would have yelled at her if I was him, but Sanada wasn't that type of person.

Secretary-san sorted through her papers and pulled out a folder. She extended her arm across the desk and handed it to him. "Here are the rest of the details. It has been requested that you comply with everything that has been asked and win. Our school, Rikkaidai's, reputation is on the line."

xXx

It was almost ten o'clock at night when I put down my pencil. Yawning, I stretched my arms above my head and leaned back against my chair. I had been assigned extra math problems for skipping class and had just finished them. I tried to tell my teacher that I had been in the student council's office but she didn't believe me. Honestly, I wouldn't have believed me either. Nobody ever spent an hour with the student council unless they were part of it, and I wasn't a member.

Math had never been my strongest subject. I could get by but was far from the top of my class. I more or less excelled at the social sciences and language courses.

I sighed and put away my books. It was dark outside and I stared up at the sky. Stargazing wasn't something that I did often, but I did sometimes enjoy staring at the moon. It was the night of the new moon, and some of the key constellations hadn't slid over the horizon yet.

My cellphone buzzed on my desk and I quickly checked it. There was a single message in my mailbox and I selected it to open it.

_I'm heading to the courts tonight. Are you up for a little match?_

I read the message and promptly sent a reply.

_I'm good tonight. I'll see you in fifteen._

I clicked the send button and set down my phone.

It had been a couple of weeks since I last played tennis. School was pretty hectic lately and I was usually exhausted by the time dinner rolled around. But today I felt good and was certainly down for having a bit of exercise.

I hurried to my closet and pulled out my black sweatshirt and shorts. I changed into them and grabbed my tennis racket from the top shelf. I ran my nails over the strings and tested their tension. Luckily, they were tight. Pulling the hood up over my head, I poked my head out my door to check if my parents were awake. They weren't and I was home free.

I pulled out my running shoes and put them on. Yanking the laces tight, I tied them in a bow and stood up. I unlatched my window and climbed out, dropping onto the sidewalk below. Fortunately, my bedroom was on the main floor. It had originally been on the second, but my parents moved my sister into my room so that they could tend to her when she was a baby. It has been four years since then and she was still in my room.

I made my way along the same route that I took to get to school. The street tennis courts were located in the center of the small park and I arrived soon enough.

It was pretty dark out and I could barely see. There were no lights around the courts and one had to navigate their way around with only the moonlight. I squinted across the net to see a dark figure standing on the opposite baseline. I couldn't make out their face as there wasn't enough light, but I assumed it was them.

I whipped out my phone and sent them a text.

_I'm here. How about you?_

The dark figure's phone beeped and I could see them open it. A small screen light stood out amongst the darkness.

My phone beeped and I read their message.

_Yeah. I'm guessing that's you on the other side._

I gave them a wave and they waved back.

My phone went off again.

_Ready to start? I'll serve first._

I quickly sent a reply back and then took my place on the baseline. I heard the ball smack the stings of their racket and I waited for it to arrive in my court. The ball bounced off the ground and passed right by me. It slammed against the chains of the fence, signaling to my opponent that I had missed.

"Focus, Aya," I whispered to myself.

I heard the second serve coming and this time was able to slice a shot across the net. It was easily returned and flew back into my court. I heard the ball bounce on the ground and swung my racket. The ball made contact with the face and I hit it back. Our rally continued as always and we ended the game soon enough.

I'd lost with a score of two sets to one. I'd won the first set but was bested in the second. The third one didn't quite go my way and I lost in an easy tiebreak.

I wiped the sweat from my forehead and stared across the net at my opponent. As always, all I could see was darkness. Sometimes I wanted to know exactly who my opponent was. They sure were talented. In our long running record of over 100 games, they had won 77 of them. But not knowing was what made our relationship work. The mystery made the game fun. It allowed for the opponent to be anyone. For all I knew my opponent was a 10 year old kid. I highly doubted it, but it was a possibility and the possibility made it entertaining. I thoroughly enjoyed our nighttime tennis. It was like our own little secret where we could be anyone.

_Good game tonight. You caught me off guard in the first set. Your serves got weaker over time though. The net shots were alright though._

I read the text and typed back a reply.

_Yeah, I was getting pretty winded after the second set. It's been a while since I've played. Your game was solid as usual. The fact that we can only see five feet in front of us doesn't seem to affect your game._

Their reply was quickly sent.

_I've gotten used to relying on my other senses. I'm sure you have too. _

I sent my response soon too.

_I have. Playing in the darkness is certainly a challenge, but I've become accustomed to it. I'm not sure when I'd ever find the need to use this new skill, but it is still a good skill to have._

Their text arrived in my inbox soon after.

_It comes in handy from time to time. Anyways, I have to go. Thanks for the game tonight. I'll text you later. Have a goodnight._

Their phone light soon disappeared and I knew they were gone.

_Goodnight._

I pressed send.

**What did you think? Let me know with a review and I'll update soon!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three is here! Thank you so much for all your support and I hope you guys continue to follow this fic. This chapter is shorter than the other one, but I've been posting a lot lately so please forgive me.**

** sh4dee : Thanks so much for your review. I always welcome constructive criticism and really appreciated your comments. I hope this chapter clears a few things up with the whole playing tennis with a stranger and getting the phone number thing. As for playing tennis in the dark, I'm trying to approach it like they did in the anime. I'm imagining that playing in the dark is exactly like Echizen playing with his eyes closed. It just makes one focus on their other senses. I hope that helped! And thanks again for everything.**

The next morning in homeroom, I was a lot more lethargic than usual. I'd felt as if I'd been up all night. Drowsy, I waited for the morning announcements to finish. _Looks like it will be another super long day, _I thought, burying my head in my arms. _It's only first period and I'm already exhausted._

"Co-ed tennis team tryouts are happening after final period in court 6," Secretary-san said over the intercom. "Please come dressed appropriately and be ready to run."

"Did you hear that?" Mayu asked, her head hovering only a couple of inches in front of my face.

I shook myself awake for the third or fourth time and nodded my head. Looking up, I saw Mayu twisted around in her seat watching me. My stomach did a sort of a complicated backflip as I smelt the rotten egg smell that was coming out of her mouth. Obviously, she had neglected to brush her teeth and had left her house with morning breath. I rubbed my eyes and sat up straight, trying to look alive, if not alert.

"You look tired," she said.

I looked at her and laughed. She didn't look so hot either. Her tie was uneven and her blouse was wrinkly. Not only was her hair disheveled and a complete mess, but she also had sleep in her eyes. Clearly, Mayu probably rolled out of bed and then left for school right away.

"Were you up late last night working on the science homework?"

"Science homework!" I groaned. "Right, I need to finish that!" _Start it, more like. _I pulled out my science workbook and threw it on my desk. Maybe I could get a few questions done before third period started.

"Want to copy mine?" Mayu extended her workbook out to me.

"Thanks, but no thanks," I told her. "It's better if I got it done on my own." Truthfully, it was safer to not complete the homework than to copy answers off Mayu. She was dead last in our class and was known for practically always having incorrect answers. Don't get me wrong though, the girl tried hard. She always did her homework and studied for all her tests. However, Mayu just wasn't a science student and just couldn't excel in the subject no matter how hard she worked.

"Okay." She placed her book back in her bag and rested her arms on the edge of my desk. The skin on her arms was a pale gold; she'd been out in the sun. "So you weren't working on science, then. Do you have some sort of part-time job that I don't know about?"

I laughed. "No, I don't. We both know that Rikkaidai students aren't permitted to get jobs," I told her, reminding her of one of our school rules. It was certainly a stupid rule. What was the problem with a student earning a little bit of extra cash? Obviously the school thought otherwise. They said that they didn't want their students to get too tired. With schoolwork, practice, cram school, and a job, students would be too exhausted to focus and succeed. And at Rikkaidai, succeeding was one's number one priority.

Honestly, I wanted to tell Mayu about my secret tennis hobby, but I knew she wouldn't understand. She was completely anti-everything when it came to sports. It didn't matter if it was soccer or baseball, Mayu hated them all. Thus, I kept my tennis on the down low, not willing to sacrifice my only friend in the school for some petty pass time.

"The boys' bathroom on the third floor will be closed for the rest of the week due to repairs," Secretary-san continued. "Please remember to use the ones on the first two floors."

My phone buzzed in my blazers pocket and I fished it out. I unlocked it and saw that there were several notifications that I hadn't checked yet. I clicked on the red little circle and the homepage to popped up.

_Hey guys! I just wanted to let you all know that students from Josei Shonan are going to be at Sakura Courts today after school. If you feel like you're up for a match, meet me down there and we can team up. – BallBoy12_

I read the following replies and scrolled down to the bottom to post a comment too. According to the responses, a lot of people were going to show up.

To me, was one of the greatest things on the worldwide web. Nobody knew exactly who started the site, but it already had hundreds of followers, myself included. It was a social media site for tennis players in the Kanagawa prefecture, specifically for those who didn't belong to their school's tennis club. People updated it frequently and let everybody know of upcoming street tennis matches that they could participate in. Matches ranged from singles all the way to mixed doubles. Sometimes there were even special skill competitions.

was a place where anybody could sign up. It didn't matter how skilled you were or whether or not you had the most outdated equipment. As long as you made a profile or an account on the site, you could receive notifications and messages from other members. Then all you had to do was show up and play a few matches with a couple of your fellow friends.

That was how I first met my unknown opponent. I'd been talking to another member in a thread about the Rikkaidai tennis club when they suddenly interjected into our conversation. Let me just say that our first few words with each other weren't that friendly. I'd been ranting on about the girls' team and they called me out on it. After tearing a few strips off of one another online, we'd decided to settle our differences on the court. Then one thing lead to another and we've been having matches ever since.

_Is it going to be singles or doubles? – PhotoFinish95_

I clicked the _post _button and loaded my message onto the thread. Another little notification circle popped up with BallBoy12's reply.

_Only a couple of the regulars are showing up. It will probably be singles. – BallBoy12_

I typed my reply and then closed my phone. The announcements were wrapping up and class was starting.

xXx

"Look who wandered into tryouts. It's Satoshi Aya and her dumbass sidekick." The sneering voice came from behind me, but I knew exactly who it was right away. Then a softball hit me right between the shoulder blades. Hard.

"That was a pretty nice pitch if I say so myself," Said Yuko. "Better sharpen your reflexes if you're planning on trying out for tennis."

I swung around. Yuko had a devilish grin on her face, thinking she'd just come up with a witty remark. She was one of the famous Matsumoto sisters, known for their good looks, bad grades, and a talent for violence on and off the field. In her third year of middle school Yuko was the youngest, and on pace to outshine her sisters in the asshole department.

"Oh, wait! The Photo-freaks are only good at taking pictures of us winners." Yuko turned around and high-fived her friends that stood behind her.

"I'm happy to see you too, Yuko," I replied. "I thought you got suspended after last week's softball game."

Yuko had broken a girl's arm on a bad unsportsmanlike play. It had caused a big uproar and everyone suspected that she'd be ineligible to play for the rest of the season. Unfortunately, she had emerged from everything unscathed. On the other hand, the injured girl was out for a couple of weeks.

I picked up the ball and tossed it back to her. "So assault and battery is okay now? Did they scrap the academic standards for our school, as well? Or are you in some sort of mainstream program for pompous idiots?"

The time delay while she processed my words told me everything. Having never been called that, Yuko was astonished. The word 'idiot' was a giveaway, because her face flushed a deep red after several seconds.

"But purposely pitching to hit another girl's arm is okay as long as daddy has got money," I said, grabbing Mayu's hand. "After all, money makes the world go round." I stormed off, dragging Mayu behind me. "And we were just passing by the courts!" I called back loudly.

xXx

Mayu snapped a picture of court 6.

"They say there is a cash prize of 5 000 000 yen for the winning school," she pointed out, clicking the button on her camera. A light flashed and the photo was taken.

"Is that so?" I asked, not really paying much attention to her. I was on my phone, surfing and chatting with a few members in a separate thread.

"Yes! That is so much money! We'd have enough money to buy all new supplies for the next couple of years if we won that!" Mayu said.

"We'd probably have to share it with the other school clubs too. I don't think we'd get much in the end," I reminded her, telling her that is was a school prize.

The two of us were lounging around on the school roof. From below, we couldn't look like anything but creepy perverts. Well, more so Mayu since she was the one with the camera. I was too busy chatting on to gain more of a bad reputation.

_You coming tonight, PhotoFinish95? – BallBoy12_

_I don't think so. My parents are going out tonight and I'm in charge of babysitting. – PhotoFinish95_

_That sucks. How about you Smash-san1? – BallBoy12_

_I'm going to have to pass on this one too. – Smash-san1_

_Looks like there won't be much competition there tonight if you two aren't going – BallBoy12_

_I'm sure some talent will show up. Street tennis players are sort of like nomads. We come and go. – PhotoFinish95_

_Well there aren't many skilled street players coming out anymore. They're all joining their school's tennis teams and are too busy to stop by. – BallBoy12_

_It happens. – Smash-san1_

_Speaking of which, I don't think you two have ever agreed to meet up at these public matches. I've only ever played you at night. – BallBoy12_

_I've got a part-time job after school. – PhotoFinish95_

I hit the button and posted my lie onto the web. It wasn't because I enjoyed playing in the dark or missing matches. It was because the Art Club was having so many difficulties these days that I was swamped trying to resolve them.

_It is hard finding time to squeeze in matches before 10 o'clock. – PhotoFinish95_

_I have club activities for a couple of hours after final period. – Smash-san1_

_I see. – BallBoy12_

_Yeah. – PhotoFinish95_

_Well, I've got to head out. I'll message you two later with the next match up. If you ever plan on showing up, let me know. I want to know how you two plan in the daylight. – BallBoy12_

_See you. –PhotoFinish12_

_Bye. – Smash-san1_

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